“When This Happens, Bitcoin Could Be Doomed” – The Motley Fool | $10,357.76

While a number of folks see nothing but positives surrounding the CME Group’s announcement that it’ll begin offering bitcoin futures, and there is validity to the idea that it’ll draw in tons of new money from institutional investors who’ve previously been stuck on the sidelines, it could also bring about a bitcoin crash. You see, for the first time ever, institutional investors will be able to bet against bitcoin, creating the first true market in the world’s most popular virtual currency since its inception.

It’s pretty much no secret that a number of institutional investors believe bitcoin is overvalued at the moment, with some still struggling to figure out where it’ll find its niche. That looks to be a recipe for futures trading to push bitcoin substantially lower in the weeks to come.

One of the bigger worries with developing blockchain and introducing new virtual currencies is that there’s a very low barrier to entry. Essentially anyone with time, some money, and the knowledge to develop blockchain technology can bring a new virtual currency and blockchain to market. We’ve witnessed hundreds of new virtual currencies debut since the year began, which is a direct threat to bitcoin’s current dominance.

Along those same lines, who’s to say that bitcoin will remain the top dog as a crypto-payment facilitator, or that its blockchain will generate interest with businesses? For those who may not recall, bitcoin upgraded its blockchain four months ago, boosting its capacity while lowering transaction fees and settlement times. This was done to attract big businesses, but there’s nothing to guarantee that bitcoin’s blockchain will be the preferred choice when there are so many other choices.